Means for securing a band loop to an article



May 12,- 1959 F. PERKINS MEANS FOR SECURING A BAND LOOP TO AN AR TICLEFiled 'July 20. 1954 INVEN TOR Frederick J. Pefikdns ATTORNEYS UnitedStates Patent MEANS FOR SECURING A BAND LOOP TO AN ARTICLE Frederick I.Perkins, West Leesport, Pa., assignor to Willcox & Gibbs Sewing MachineCompany, New York,N.Y., a corporation of New York Application July 20,1954, Serial No. 444,608

Claims. (Cl. 1'12-2) This invention relates to a means for facilitatingthe seeming of an annular elastic band of predetermined size. to theedge of a fabric, preferably a tubular fabric.

Heretofore, in securing bands, such as waistbands, to

tubular fabrics, it has been the practice to sew a continuous length ofelastic to the fabric and to prestretch it by hand as it is sewn and to.join the ends of the elastic after it has been secured to. the fabric.Since the accuracy of the size depended upon the skill of the individualoperator, it resulted in waistbands of different sizes.

.In an effort to. overcome this difficulty, attempts were made topreform the bands to the exact size and secure the same to the tubulargarments, but this proved ineffective since it was difiicult withexisting equipment to manipulate and prestretch the loop as it wassecured .to, the tubular garment and produced undue delays whichrendered it unacceptable to the operators who usually work on piecework.

The. present invention overcomes these difficulties by providing adevice for supporting the loop of elastic band material in apredetermined, prestretched condition and in such a manner and positionas to facilitate its securement to the garment.

This is accomplished by providing supporting elements, preferably in theform of freely rotatable rollers, in spaced relation above the bed ofthe machine for securing the band to the fabric so that together withthe presser foot at the securing station they readily support the loopin predetermined expanded and extended relation.

A feature of the invention resides in the versatility of the devicewhereby it can be readily adjusted to accommodate loops of various sizesand also elastic bands of various widths.

Another feature of the invention resides in the fact that the supportingmembers of the device have free ends over which the band can be readilyslipped on by the operator, thus facilitating the handling of the bandin locating it in extended position. Furthermore, the expanded loopbeing disposed entirely above the bed of the machine enables theoperator to move the tubular fabric into proper stitching position withrespect to the band and have better visibility of the operation as it issecured to the band. If desired, guard means can be provided withinthe-loop to prevent the loop, especially small loops, from contactingthe machine as the work is fed during the securing operation.

Another feature of the invention resides in the fact that the bar forthe support members is provided with an inclined or offset portion suchthat the band will be maintained against a rear flange of the roller tohold it in position on the roller and also accurately guide the band andprevent it from pulling off as the tubular member is secured thereto. Ifdesired, a trimmer may be provided for trimming the edge of the tubularmember as it passes into securing position.

The device of the present invention can be built into the sewing machineas an integral part thereof or can 2,885,979 Patented May 12, 1959 beformed as an attachment to be secured to existing sew ing machines.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thespecification and claims when considered' in connection with thedrawings in which:

Figure 1 shows an end view of the machine with the expanded loop inposition and. the tubular fabric partially secured thereto.

Fig. 2 is a top view of the device with the loop in position.

Fig. 3 is a detailed View taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

While it is to be appreciated that the fabric may be secured to theextended band by being adhered or bonded thereto, in the preferred formof the invention herein illustrated the securing of the band to thefabric is accomplished by a sewing machine 10 having the usual bed plate11, arm 12 and sewing head 13 positioned at the end of the arm. Thesewing head is provided with the usual securing or sewing station havinga needle bar 14 having sewing needles 14a therein and a presser foot 16carried for the usual lifting and lowering movement by a presser footsupport 15.

In carrying out the invention, band-supporting means are provided inspaced relation above the base. These supporting means may be formed asa part of the machine but in the herein illustrated form of theinvention. they are formed as an attachment and comprise freelyrotatable rollers 17, 1 8. The rollers, are preferably mounted on atransversely extending elongate bar 19 which is secured. to the arm 12by a bracket 20 fastened to the arm. The bracket carries transverse bar19 at one end thereof so asto be located over the sewing head to projectforwardly and rearwardly of the sewi'nghead. As shown, the rollers 17,18 project laterally from the bar in the direction of the end face 13aof the. head and are mounted for rotation on shafts 22', 23 carried bythe bar.

While either or both of the rollers may be adjustably mounted, in theillustrated form of the invention the shaft 22 for the front. roller 17is fixedly carried by the bar on an extension post 19ajof the bar whilethe. shaft 23 for the rear roller 18 is mountedon acarrier 24 adapted tobe clamped by clamp25 in adjusted positionalong the rear portion of thebar so as to facilitate the adjustment of the loop for various. sizes ofwaistbands B. To aid in this adjustment. the band is. provided withindicia. 26 whereby the rear, roller can be set to the requiredsize.

Bothof the rollers are freely rotatable on their shafts by suitableantifriction bearings 27 so as not to retard movement of the bandduring. the. sewing operation. and have at their free end an annular rib28 which. doesnot interfere with the placing of the. band in positionbut d'oesfact to prevent the band from slipping off the front ends a ndare provided atthe rear end with aflange .29. In the preferred form oftheinvention, the llangeis adjustable. along the roller andis locked inadjusted position by a set screw 30 topermit variations in the width. of

the band" which can be. accommodated between thev rib and flange.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the front roller 17 carried by the transversebar is located forwardly of and vertically above the sewing station sothat the band feeding from the front roller to the sewing station willbe properly located under the presser foot so as to overlie the edge ofthe tubular garment inserted under the presser foot. It will be noted inFig. 3 that the presser foot has extensions 16a, 16b adapted to overlieboth the garment W and the band B for a substantial extent to accuratelycontrol the sewing operation.

In order to maintain the edge of the band against the flange 29 of thefront roller so as to properly locate the .tween the rollers is inclinedslightly to the axis'of the front roller, thus causing it to hug theflange.

It will be appreciated that, ifthe waistband is extremely small and therollers are adjusted accordingly,

there will be danger of the supported loop contacting "with the head ofthe sewing machine and/ or the usual take-up 31 of the sewing machine.Accordingly, a guard 32 is provided comprising a substantially' U-shapedmember having the legs of the U 33, 34 positioned in front and back ofthe head and extending along the head from the end thereof and havingmeans 35 in the bow 36 to secure to the end face. This means isillustrated as a loop 37 in the bow adapted to be positioned under thehead of a fastening screw 38.

If desired, the usual trimmer mechanism 39, such" as shown in WeisPatent No. 1,155,533," may be provided in advance of the sewing stationto trim the edge of the tubular fabric as it passes into the sewingstation.

In securing a band to a tubular fabric or garment the operator firstadjusts the position of the supporting rollers to the desired size ofthe loop. The loop is inserted under the raised presser foot, thenstretched and slipped over the free ends of the rollers into supportedposition with the loop support arranged as herein indicated. This can bedone with a of effort and time on the part of the operator. The loopwill hug the presser foot because of the elasticity of the material. Theedge of the garment then is inserted under the loop and as soon as it isin position, the presser-foot is lowered and the sewing operation canbegin. Due to the positioning of the loop above the bed in expandedrelation, the secured-together fabric will move upwardly, as shown inFig. 1, without interfering with the visibility of the operator who, itwill be apparent,'can watch the sewing operation until the fabric hasmoved around to a position beyond the front roller. Thereafter, it isunnecessary to watch the operation since the fabric between the presserfoot and the fabric-secured portion of the loop will take the normalpositionover the band due to the stretch in the band.

It will be seen, therefore, that the present invention greatlyfacilitates the handling of the band and the sewing of the same to' atubular fabric or garment.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the claimsand portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

1. In a device for attaching a band of elastic material to a tubulararticle, the combination with a sewing machine having a bed plate, anoverhanging arm and head portion carried by the arm, said head havingstitching means and a presser foot, of an attachment comprising atransverse bar mounted on the arm adjacent the head and projecting tothe front and back thereof and extending substantially parallel to thebed plate, rollers mounted on said bar and spaced therealong forsupporting the band of predetermined size in an annular loop extendingthereover and under said presser foot and stitching means to be securedto said tubular article and for supporting the secured-together band andarticle in an annular loop, said rollers being mounted for adjustmentrelative to each other along said bar to accommodate loops of varioussizes.

2. In a device for attaching a band of elastic material to a tubulararticle, the combination with a sewing machine having a bed plate, anoverhanging arm and head portion carried by the arm, said head havingstitching means and a presser foot, of an attachment comprising atransverse bar mounted on the arm adjacent the head and projecting tothe front and back thereof and extending substantially parallel to thebed plate, rollers mounted on said bar and spaced therealon'g forsupporting the band of predetermined size in an annular loop extendingtheerover and uhder'sai dpres- 'ser foot and stitching means to besecured to said tubular article and for supporting the secured togetherand article in an annular loop, each of said rollers being mounted atone end to said bar to project therefrom with the axis of the rollersubstantially parallel to the bed plate and with the other end of theroller'free ,and unobstructed to facilitate the positioning of said bandthereon.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein each roller is providedon the end thereof adjacent the bar with an adjustable flange wherebysaid rollers can ac- 1 commodate bands of varying widths.

ried thereby causes the band to be positioned against the flange on theroller carried by the bar in front of the arm.

5. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein said head is providedwith a projecting thread take-up and wherein a guide means is carried bythe head for engaging the band supported by the rollers and preventingcontact of the band by the take-up.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS IBalthasar May 23,

Cummins Jan. 5, 1954

